The Past Weekend

Well on Sunday we did go to the town of Marlow but it was a festival and this coming weekend is the actual Regatta. Here are some pictures from Marlow:





There was a big field filled with rides and people selling crafts and stuff. It was fun and it was such a beautiful day but since Donovan was still a bit under the weather, we didn't stay long. However we did have a delicious lunch at "Wimpy" which is very similar to a Friendly's. I took this picture for my Uncle Bob since he used to call me Wimpy as a child (HAHA). (Yes, Ketchup is "Tomato Sauce" and you know we say tomato, well they say tomato.)

I've never been much of a domestic girl but I did successfully make a delicious banana bread which can be seen below (you know you want a piece):




Did anyone see any good movies this weekend? We saw "The Hangover" which was very funny! Here is a picture from the center of the mall at night...you can't really see too well but there is a big water tower in the middle:


Today I had an interview at the Environment Centre to be a media volunteer. I got the job--surprise surprise! (They are SO generous with jobs that don't pay!) It's cool though because it will give me something to do on my own schedule and they do pay expenses which includes the bus...yes today was my first time taking the bus and I did it all by myself!

Today was actually the first day that Donovan went off to work and I stayed here...I took the bus for 2 pounds 50 pents into High Wycombe and went to my interview and then did some shopping and got lunch...and found my way back too! And it's not that easy because everything is in military time which is kind of confusing.

Donovan and I also watched "Mysteries in Pittsburgh" and "Role Models" (both bootleg DVDs I bought from some lady on the street in NYC). "Role Models" was hilarious and "Mysteries" was ok...a little wierd.

Tonight Paul (Donovan's boss) arrives. We are picking him up from Heathrow...should be interesting with him here. He is flying in for a meeting...

Cheers...and check out this song: Mama Do (by Pixie Lott)

P.S. Did you guys ever check out that song "Not Fair" by Lilly Allen that I posted? Did you listen to the lyrics? LOL

God save the Queen!!! (And Donovan too!)

Today Queen Elizabeth's birthday was celebrated. How old did she turn? No clue! Also today Donovan spilled a pot of boiling water and sausages in the kitchen. Luckily, he was not hit by the boiling water and it was also not his fault. The handle just broke off the pot! Poor guy--what awful luck!

I went for a run today...finally got some exercise! It was a beautiful day out--hot and sunny! I discovered a park and a "primary school" and an adult education school. Then I went down to the Mowchak (that Indian restaurant) and I saw the guy outside so I quickly turned around. I saw a bunch of pubs and stores. I think tomorrow I will go to all the local stores and try to see if they need some illegal help....I actually have an interview next week for a volunteer position...which will give me something nice to do but I want some pounds! The UK is the only place where people want pounds!

Donovan is feeling a little under the weather so he took a long nap today and has been taking it easy. We stayed in tonight but it's supposed to be really nice tomorrow too so we will do something low key but fun outdoors. Probably go to the "Regatta" which (unbeknownst to many Forest Lakes Members) is a canoe race, or maybe the "car boot" sale which is like a garage sale (a "trunk"= a "boot"). It's a big open field where people set up tables or just open their trunks and basically (pardon my french) sell their old shit! There are some people who sell other stuff too. Like last week there were some Turkish guys who had a stand selling fresh olives, nuts and turkish delight which is kind of like a fruit snack...well it's very different but I can't think of any other way to describe it! They have normal flavors like coconut and strawberry but then they have rose flavor which is my favorite! I know my mom and Danielle tried those rose flavored turkish pastries that we had. Mmmmm yummy! Now whenever I see a rose instead of thinking it's so romantic and pretty I just get hungry...haha just kidding!

There is also this ancient structure thingd near by where witches and warlocks used to practice wicca or still do? We are going to investigate that later on. I will be sure to "blog" about it since I have a wierd interest in witches. The following picture is from Halloween but I thought it went with the whole witch theme of the this paragraph. And I know how certain older gentlemen (coughbobwelchcough) view my blog as if it were a Playboy magazine and only look at the pictures! This actually allows me to make more fun of you, Dad! hahaha

Torquay: by the beautiful sea!

Torquay is a beautiful town by the sea. Here are some pics from our stay...













Here is the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at: The Villa Oasis

When we awoke in the morning, we had a traditional british breakfast which includes baked beans, tomato, mushrooms, egg, toast, hashbrown, coffee/tea, cereal or grapefruit....let's just say it's a lot of food! We were the only people at the B&B except for an old woman who had some interesting things to say to us:

Old lady quotes:

1. Old Lady: "I knew someone who went to Seattle once."
Me: "Oh, thats nice."
Old Lady: "He died there."

2. Old Lady: "I'm 85, you know."
Donovan: "Oh well you don't look it."
Old Lady: "Yea all the men like me."

3. Old Lady (randomly in the middle of our meal): "I have schlerosis in my leg."
Donovan and I: *cricket* *cricket*


We had a great time!

We hit a lot of traffic on the way back so we got prettyyy bored....(note: I haven't figured out how to turn the video around yet so turn your head around!)

Video #1: Bobo (Eric--this is for you!)



Video #2: Donny Cash





One thing I've noticed about England is there are a lot of vans. There are vans that drive around and stop and set up to sell coffee, tea, and a few things to eat. Theres another van that drives around and parks in neighborhoods and parents pay to have their kids play in it for an hour. It's kind of like a McDonalds playplace on wheels

Here are some more songs that play on the radio that I like:

"New in Town" by Little Boots
"Womanizer" cover of Britney's by the All American Rejects

And finally, there are tons of places here that are also found in NJ...probably because the original inhabitants came from over here! Here they are:

New Jersy = the Channel Island, Jersey

Brigwater (close enough to Bridgewater, don't you think?)
Sussex
Andover
Newton
Woodbridge
Woodbury (commons?)
Clinton
High Bridge
Dover
Glassboro
Mansfield
Chester
Monmouth
Clifton

Other states:
Norwich
Newport
Greenwich
Boston

Just some funny names:
Leatherhead
Dorking

Oh, and South Africa beat England in the cricket game! I'm sure you are all very excited about that!

Well, that's all for now. It's friday night and my brain is done thinking. Have a great weekend everyone!

Updates: June 11, 2009

Some updates from past blog entries:

Donovan is doing fine. Luckily there has been no side effects from the shock. He is actually quite satisfied with the results as he has been awarded 2 Fallon Points, 2 of which are his first ever and the first 2 European Fallon Points given out. For anyone who does not know what this is, it is a point system that my cousin has and whoever can get 100 Fallon Points in a lifetime gets like $10,000 but it is reallyyy hard to get them. LOL

We never ate the Indian leftovers. We ended up throwing them out. All that for nothing!

Some songs on the radio:

1. Bonkers (Donovan can really break it down to this one by Dizzee Rascal)
2. We Made You (Eminem)--*
3. Fire (Kasabien)
4. The Fear (Lilly Allen)--**
5. The Show (Lady Lenka)---**
6. Not Fair (Lilly Allen)--*

*= like
**= really like

We went to the movies last night and saw Terminator Salvation. No surprise I didn't like it LOL but Donovan thought it was OK. We don't recommend it. The theater is HUGE...bigger than any theater I've ever seen. And the prices are better than the US!

Today we are traveling to Torquey which is on the England South Coast. We are staying at a Bed & Breakfast (which is cheaper than a hotel here). Unfortunately there is no access to Internet there! Here is the website for the Bed & Breakfast: http://www.villa-oasis.co.uk/

Today South Africa is playing against England in Cricket. It is also exactly one year until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa! Whoo hoo!

Cheerio!

My Last Name is Welsh!

Yes, my last name is Welsh. Well it is actually Welch but Welch is Welsh. Understand? Ok, Welch is of Welsh (Wales) origin. Make sense now? :-)

We traveled to Wales today and here are some pics:

"American chicken" is fried chicken!

This is the Severns Bridge which goes from England into Wales:


This is a university in Wales:



Just a pretty picture of Welsh landscape:

Designs on a wall:

London is "shocking": My First Day

It took us a few minutes to find Donovan's car in the parking garage but we eventually found it and arrived back at his flat. The front entrance is pictured above. The room above with the globe in the window is our room. It is so nice and he made me a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast! Yummy! I took a nap and then he ran me a bubble bath...seriously you can't find guys like this anymore!



After I was nice and refreshed we went to the city of High Wycombe and I bought shampoo and stuff. The mall/city/town of High Wycombe reminded me very much of the mall in Miami...all open with a waterfall thing in the middle...very cool. There are nice cobblestone streets and lots of vendors too. To the left you will see a clock that is in the town. Here are all the bananas we got for 1 pound!



For dinner, we went to this Indian restaurant down the road called The Mowchak. I got a delicious spicy prawn meal (prawns are like shrimp) and Donovan got a spicy lamb meal. We also had a cool appetizer- some type of chip that you dip in all these different dips. And this "Non-bread" which was basically pizza! It was very posh and they gave us these lemon hot wash cloths to pat our faces at the end.

Anyway, so we had a lot of food leftover and asked the server to put it in a box so we can take it home. He came back with a veryyyy small box and Donovan asked him if he was coming back with the rest of our leftovers. Yes..yes...he told us. We waited a few minutes...then asked again...."yes yes" he told us again. So we just left. We got into the car and started to get angry. We wanted to eat that for lunch tomorrow!! What is in this box? So we looked and it seemed to be just a bit of Donovan's lamb. So we turned around and went back to the restaurant. I went in and asked them where the rest of our food was...the prawns...the rice...the "pizza"...the guy opened the little box and pointed to the prawn inside the box. "It is all there", he said. I responded, "Well now Donovan can't eat it because he's allergic to seafood!" The man then said, "Ahhh Miss...when people take home doggy bag they give to dog so we just mush everything together. You must specify if you want things seperate." At this point, I am just pissed because first of all, who gives spicy Indian curry to their dogs? That's gotta stink! And secondly, isn't that an insult to their restaurant-telling me people just give their food to their dogs?! As a parting gift, the man gave me some rice. As I walked out, I heard them mumble something about "American". Lesson learned: ask for a box when taking home leftovers.

Later that night....

The next day we were going to leave early because Donovan had work and I was going to come along for the drive to see some of the country. So I showered and wanted to blow dry my hair. I asked Donovan for a universal plug because obviously American plugs don't work in European outlets. I couldn't get the plug into the universal outlet so Donovan used a pen and got it in. Then he handed the blow dryer to me...paused...and said, "wait--let me test it first". So he reaches down for the outlet and a HUGE spark flys out and Donovan falls to the ground--UNCONSCIOUS! I am in complete panic screaming and crying and staring at the phone screaming "HOW DO YOU CALL 9-1-1?!?!?!" Donovan is just laying there on the ground with his eyes closed. I thought he was dead and it was all my fault for wanting to blow dry my hair. After a few seconds (which seemed like eternity) he awoke and said "I'm fine" and stood up. His fingers were black and burnt where the shock hit him and there is even a burn mark on the underside of the table. He is fine now...which is why I can "blog" about it but it was really, truely, one of the scariest things that has happened to me. Lesson learned: if a plug doesn't fit in an outlet, then it doesn't fit and you should not try to make it. MORE IMPORTANT LESSON: To call 9-1-1, dial 9-9-9.

Here is a picture of the bottom of the computer table...


A few other lessons I have learned:

1. Fries are chips and chips are crisps. This applies to the whole of the UK. EXCEPTION: McDonald's-fries are fries. There are no chips.
2. To flush a toilet there are 3 ways. One button is for "number 1". One button is for "number 2". And if you do something REALLY nasty, you press both buttons at the same time!
3. Traffic lights are "robots" and they change from red to yellow and then to green.
4. A queue refers to traffic or a line.
5. A "chav" or someone who is "chavvy" is comparable to an American "dirt bag" or "red neck". Apparently, there is a government assistance program where any girl who has a baby under 18 can get government housing so they won't be on the streets once their parents kick them out. So lots of girls get pregnant so they can move out. All of these pregnant teenagers wear really small skirts with hoodies and they walk around with equally ummm "looking" guys. It is fun to point them out and whisper "Chav" but apparently it is never to be said in the presence of any Brits!
6. And finally, where am I? A brief history lesson: England, Scotland and Wales are collectively known as Britain. When Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands are included, this is referred to as "The United Kingdom".

Oh, and me and Donovan went to eat at the Holiday Inn for lunch today. He worked there for 8 months about 5 years ago. Some of his friends were still there! This is us:

My flight to London!

For those who don't know me (which I'm not sure why you're reading this...) but anyway...here is some framework before I begin my story.

Framework: My fiance, Donovan, travels around the world for his job. I met him when he was working in the US. His job took him to the UK in April and he will be here until October. Then he will be sent to South Africa from October through January. He invited me to come along with him to see the world. I thought about my options and though many people say the decision should have been simple, it was actually quite hard but I decided while I'm young, have no children or mortgages (just those pesky student loans!), that I had to go. So I quit my job and here I am! And the story begins...

I left the US Saturday evening from JFK. I sat next to a nice young Spanish guy (Marty) who was a researcher for telecoms and currently lived in Ireland. As we landed in Dublin (my stopover) I couldn't help but observe the luscious greens...what a beautiful country! I even saw a fox on the side of the runway...something you would never see in New York! When I walked into the Dublin airport I immediately had flashbacks to Byram Consolidated School. It was the wierdest airport I have ever seen...wood paneling, spotted tile floors, lots of different [class] rooms, long windy hallways...wierd! Anyway, I was behind an older couple in the customs line and the guy asked her "how long are you staying?" I was awfully nervous for this question since I was staying until October and had a fake itinerary that I was leaving in 3 weeks...but luckily, I wasn't asked anything! Apparently the Irish don't give a damn who gets into the UK!

So off I went and of course since the Dublin airport is wierd, even if you are connecting flights you have to go to the baggage claim and then back through security. Now that I think about it, I should have stepped outside! But anyway, of course the guy at security saw my Lenape Valley soccer bag and was like hey, I lived in NJ and I'm going back next week! Turns out he lived in Warrenville in Union County and had heard of the "Lenape" Indians! By this time I was exhausted because it was now midnight US time. We had a 45 min delay on the runway because of rain at Heathrow (figures) and then we were off! I arrived in London around 9am (UK time). My bags were the first bags at baggage claim and when I stepped outside I immediately saw Donovan! Things were going so smoothly!

And then I knew I had spoken too soon...